Sleep, Insomnia, and Medical Marijuana

Medical Marijuana & Wellness Post-Webinar Resources

The Webinar

Thank you to everyone who attended the January 31st Webinar on Improving Sleep with Medical Marijuana!

Watch the video on our Youtube Channel! 

Your questions and comments during the live Q&A helped to make a great source of information for the next person seeking treatment.

Our Speakers featured in this webinar was host Marc Matoza, with Marijuana Med Today. Manny Alfinez with Surterra Wellness, and Dr. Greg Holt with the TX Society of Sleep Professionals.

Ongoing Education

We’ve partnered with medical marijuana education experts to provide you with further resources on the topic of Sleep and Medical Marijuana.

Click an item from the index below to skip to that section.

Sponsor Discounts

  • Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinics of Florida
  • My Botanica Wellness
  • Surterra Wellness
$

Meet the Speakers

Overview:

Materials from the Webinar

  • View the slides from the live presentation
  • How CBD Oil Affects Chronic Pain and Inflammation with Thomas DeLauer
  • Weed (Parts 1-4) with Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Sponsor Discounts

Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinics of Florida

With 25+ clinic locations and partner physicians, we provide the absolute highest level of patient care in the state, at your convenience. Call today or visit our website to schedule your risk-free cannabis consultation. If you do not qualify, you will not be charged for the consultation.

$49 Patient Transfer Pricing

Unsatisfied with your current provider? MMTC wants to help you out. $49 initial assessment for patients who already have a registry Florida ID card and are looking to switch medical cannabis doctors.

Applies only to select MMTC clinic locations. This discount is available year-round.

10% Veteran's Discount

MMTC offers a 10% discount to veterans on medical marijuana clinic services.

Applies to all MMTC clinic locations. This discount is available year-round.

My Botanica Wellness

Physician-recommended CBD products so that you can feel confident in their quality, efficacy, testing certifications, and safety.

At My Botanica Wellness, we believe that patients shouldn’t have to sacrifice quality to get affordable CBD products. In a market that is oversaturated and under regulated, we strive to provide reputable, thoroughly tested CBD products.

1st Time Buyers Receive 10% Off

Use code MMAW10 for 10% off your purchase of Physician-recommended CBD products at mybotanicawellness.com!

Surterra

Feeling truly well is a gift—and everyone should be able to achieve it. Surterra is here to empower you and your family to unlock all the benefits of cannabis with the safest, highest quality products and a welcoming experience that’s designed to help you feel your best.

1st Time Buyers Receive 60% Off

We love meeting new people! Shop with us and save 60% on your first purchase and 40% on your second purchase

Veterans & Financial Hardship

Every 1st and 15th of the month, stack your Veterans and Financial Hardship discounts for a total of 35% off your order. No promo code needed. Simply provide proof of participation in one of the programs and the discount will be applied at checkout.

Senior Saturday

Every Saturday, every customer over 55 can save 30% on their entire purchase. No promo code needed. Simply show your ID to the guide and the discount will be applied at checkout.

Meet Our Speakers

Marc Matoza, Series Host

President and Founder, Marijuana Med Today

Marc Matoza is a medical cannabis enthusiast and research professional who was instrumental in founding MarijuanaAware education events. He’s been speaking at these seminars and webinars since the very first in June 2017 and is key in coordinating sponsors and speakers for each series.

Manny Alfinez

Field Services Engineer, Surterra Wellness

Army veteran Manny Alfinez worked his way up from a Surterra delivery driver to an assistant manager opening a new location within 10 months. To gain clinical experience, he took a job with The Kaya Life Cannabis Clinicians as a Cannabis Advisor/Practice Manager in 2021.

Read more about Manny Alfinez

Since retiring from the Army, I started out working as a delivery driver for a local dispensary (Surterra) in 2018. I worked my way up to assistant manager opening a new location (FWB) within 10 months. Though I love the dispensary side of the industry, I felt it necessary to gain clinical experience. So I decided to take a job with The Kaya Life Cannabis Clinicians as a Cannabis Advisor/Practice Manager in 2021. The key to this change is that I was no longer held back by dispensary retail liabilities, meaning I could now be more specific in advising patients. In doing so, I began learning from others experiences along with my own in more detail, a true blue case study at the user level (not peer-reviewed). This allowed me to assist others in finding specific products for specific results, saving hundreds of dollars.

​I believe that due to the nature of cannabis and how it may affect individuals differently, there is a need for advising/coaching for those who find little assistance in the general consultations being provided in the market today.

​Qualifications:

  • Interpener or Cannabis Sommelier (Certified)
  • Cannabis Consultant (Certified)
  • Cannabis Products & Sales Training (Certified) by the Trichome Institute and Medical Cannabis Wellness Advisor
  • Member of the new National Association of Cannabis Businesses (NACB) as a professional within the industry

Webinars featuring Manny Alfinez:

Gregory Holt, PhD RRT FAASM

President, Texas Society of Sleep Professionals; Diplomate, American Board of Sleep Medicine; Director of Operations and Polysomnography, Respiratory Quality Services

Dr. Gregory Holt’s research interests are in the control of breathing, diagnostic testing in the ALS population, and sleep medicine. Dr. Holt has published a number of peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters in the field. His most recent publication is a book chapter on the Principles of Mechanical Ventilation.

Read more about Dr. Gregory Holt

Dr. Gregory Holt is the Director of Operations and Polysomnography for Respiratory Quality Services (RQS) in Houston, TX. Dr. Holt has been trained as a respiratory therapist at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, LA. He’s worked in the acute care setting on code teams, ventilator management, labor & delivery, and hyperbaric medicine. He has administrative experience as the Asst. Director of Respiratory Care at E.A. Conway Memorial Hospital, Monroe, LA., Director of Pulmonary Diagnostic Testing at Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA., and Program Director of Respiratory Care, Florida A&M University.

He completed his education at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine, earning a Doctorate in Physiology in 1992 while studying Respiratory Muscle Afferent Signal Processing. He has been involved in clinical sleep medicine for 25 years prior to his arrival at RQS. Dr. Holt participated in the initiation of the Sleep Diagnostic Laboratory at Temple University Hospital in 1992. He was Board Certified as a Clinical Sleep Specialist by the American Board of Sleep Medicine in 2005 and since has helped thousands of patients with sleep/wake disorders. Dr. Holt has been the Medical Director of sleep clinics in Florida, he’s held joint appointments with UT Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine at Temple University Hospital, Pulmonary Medicine at the Audie Murphy Memorial VA Hospital and the Sleep Therapy & Research Institute in San Antonio. Dr. Holt continues his interests in clinical patient care and remains active as a Respiratory Therapist at the South Texas ALS Clinic and the Houston Methodist ALS Clinic. He has been involved with Veteran’s Health while working as a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist and diving with patients suffering from traumatic brain injury.

His research interests are in the control of breathing, diagnostic testing in the ALS population and sleep medicine. Dr. Holt has published a number of peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters in the field. His most recent publication is a book chapter on the Principles of Mechanical Ventilation (Shelledy & Peters, eds., 2019).

Currently, Dr. Holt serves as a member of the HME-RT Council, American Association for Homecare, an item writer for the National Board of Respiratory Care, and President of the Texas Society of Sleep Professionals. He continues to work with the ALS Association, and local support and community groups while enjoying participating in ALS sponsored events. He is an avid motorcycle enthusiast, enjoys sailing, diving, hunting & fishing. Dr Holt is married and has 5 children which he jokes about, pointing to his interest as a long-distance motorcyclist.

Webinars featuring Gregory Holt:

What are Cannabinoids?

Cannabinoids are any of a group of closely
related compounds which include cannabinol and the active constituents of cannabis.

Cannabinoids can treat numerous medical problems

CURRENT USES OF CANNABINOIDS:

  • Alleviate pain and inflammation, especially chronic forms, from diseases such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, glaucoma, neuropathy, and Crohn’s disease
  • Increasing appetite to prevent the extreme weight loss of AIDS
  • Improving muscle control/lessening spasticity in conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease
  • Controlling epileptic seizures, especially in children
  • Treating mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress (PTS), bipolar disorder, and multiple anxiety disorders
  • Treating addiction, including smoking cessation

See Also from MMTCFL:

Tha Main Cannabinoids

routes of administration
“Cannabis doesn’t always help the pain directly. Sometimes it does, but the amazing thing about cannabis is that it actually allows patients to live their lives in a much fuller way.

It helps them sleep better. It helps them deal with the pain better. And it can help with so many things surrounding the underlying condition, so that when they wake up in the morning and go to sleep at night they’re living fuller, better-quality lives.”

Cannabinoid Receptors

routes of administration

Continued Education and Awareness Resources

Materials from the Webinar

“Cytokines are signaling proteins that ultimately recruit inflammation to happen. Cytokines will trigger specific immune cells to release inflammation or actually even reduce inflammation, given the right circumstances. […] CBD actually modulates the cytokine production.”

Weed (Parts 1-3)

CNN Documentary | Dr. Sanjay Gupta, 2013-2015

Weed (Part 4)

CNN Documentary | Dr. Sanjay Gupta, 2016
Dr. Sanjay Gupta‘s enterprise reporting on medical marijuana has led to five documentary films, “Weed,” which were awarded the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.

Cannachats Recommended Reading

Cannabinoid Resources

What are Cannabinoids?
Used for Pain, Cancer and autoimmune disease
Very Well Health by Adrienne Dellwo
Cannabis and Pain: A Clinical Review (2017)
Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. Vol 2.1, DOI: 10.1089/can.2017.0017. Hill, K.P., Palastro, M.D., Johnson B., & Ditre, J.
Cannabis Pharmacy: The practical guide to medical marijuana (2017)
Backes, M. Weil, A. McCue, J.D.

Basics of Medical Marijuana in Florida

i
Patient Information Brochure
Medical Marijuana Awareness Webinars, in partnership with MMTCFL
Office of Medical Marijuana Use
Florida Department of Health | KnowtheFactsMMJ.com
l
Florida Medical Marijuana Patient Application
Click to Download from the Office of Medical Marijuana Use
Medical Marijuana Patient Webinars
MarijuanaAware.com
Cannabis 101 with Leafly
Leafly.com | Cannabis 101
w
Suncoast NORML
suncoastnorml.org

Supplemental Research

Get Your Life Back with Medical Marijuana

Get Updates about Other Medical Marijuana Awareness Webinars